Family of radical cleric Abu Qatada leave the UK for Jordan

The family of Al Qaeda hate-preacher Abu Qatada yesterday left their taxpayer-funded life in Britain for good.

The fanatic’s wife and five children last night boarded a plane to Jordan to join Qatada, who is awaiting trial on a string of terrorist charges.The flight was funded by the Government but it means the UK is finally rid of a family which has cost the country at least £500,000 in benefits since first arriving in the early 1990s.It also completes a major victory for Home Secretary Theresa May, who succeeded in having Qatada – known as Osama Bin Laden’s ambassador in Europe – booted out last month, after a £3million legal fight.

The Qatadas moved into a taxpayer-funded £450,000 four-bedroom detached house in Stanmore, north-west London, earlier this year while his deportation battle was still ongoing.Qatada always insisted his family wanted to join him in Jordan, but there was scepticism at Westminster.The two youngest children were born in Britain and have UK passports so could not have been forcibly removed.And Qatada’s wife could herself have asked to stay on human rights grounds, arguing that she should not be separated from her children.But the family members not born here have now dropped their claim to stay in Britain permanently.

Home Office officials indicated that the family could be barred if they tried to return to the UK. However, that could prove complicated because of the youngest children’s UK passports.Tory MP Dominic Raab said: ‘Every taxpayer will be mightily relieved to see the family follow Qatada. It grates for hard-working Britons to see the family of a terrorist king-pin milking the system.‘Now we must change the rules to prevent this kind of nonsense happening again.’ – DailyMail